Tigers' hopes ride on arm of former Spinner

Now, with their World Series hopes slipping away, the Detroit Tigers turn to former Lowell Spinners pitcher Anibal Sanchez -- the least physically imposing member of their postseason rotation.

"We need to start over," Sanchez said Friday. "We need to forget what happened in San Francisco. I know we've got the talent. That's why we're here. We've got a pretty good team, so we're going to fight it to the end."

Sanchez, who was 4-4 in 15 games for the Spinners in 2004, was acquired to help the Tigers make the playoffs -- they were in the middle of a tough AL Central race with the Chicago White Sox when he arrived in a deal shortly before the trade deadline.

The right-hander held up his end of the bargain, but now Detroit is playing for even higher stakes, and Saturday night's start in Game 3 of the World Series against a red-hot San Francisco team may be his most important test yet.

Although he went only 4-6 as a Tiger in the regular season, Sanchez began to pitch better down the stretch. That carried over into the postseason, where he's 1-1 with a 1.35 ERA.

The last time Sanchez pitched, he shut out the New York Yankees for seven innings in Game 2 of the AL championship series. That's the type of performance the Tigers were hoping for when they traded top pitching prospect Jacob Turner to Miami and acquired Sanchez and second baseman Omar Infante.

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"I had seen him pitch on TV and stuff, but I didn't really know the young man," Detroit manager Jim Leyland said. "Once he got in his comfort zone, I think he's done absolutely very, very well. He's a very, very good pitcher."

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